Wayne Huizenga was awarded a franchise from the NHL on December 10, 1992.

On April 20, 1993, a press conference in Ft. Lauderdale announced that the team would be named Florida Panthers, with former New York Islanders general manager Bill Torrey as president and Bobby Clarke as general manager. The team is named for the Florida panther, an endangered species of large cat endemic to the nearby Everglades region.[10] Once the logos and uniforms were unveiled on June 15, the team also announced its financial commitment to the panther preservation cause.[11] Huizenga held the Panthers trademark since 1991, when he purchased it from a group of Tampa investors who sought to create an MLB team in the Tampa Bay area.[12]

The Panthers' first major stars were New York Rangersgoaltender castoff John Vanbiesbrouck, rookieRob Niedermayer and forward Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals in Florida's inaugural season.[16] Their first game was a 4-4 tie on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks, while their first win was a 2-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Thunderdome before a then-NHL record crowd of 27,227. The Panthers had one of the most successful first seasons of any expansion team, finishing just two points below .500 and narrowly missing out on the final 1994 playoff spot in the East.[17] Their first-year success was attributed mainly to the "trap defense" that first-year coach Roger Neilson implemented. This conservative style was widely criticized by NHL teams; some even suggested that the Panthers were ruining the game at the time.[18] While the team executives expected the audience to consist of mostly "snowbird" Canadians living in Florida, the Floridians soon embraced the Panthers.[16] Helped by Miami's other teams having middling performances, the club averaged 94% capacity at the 14,500-seat Miami Arena, and managed to sell 8,500 season tickets in 100 days.[16]

Rat trick and a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals

A very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami during the 1995-96 season. On the night of the Panthers' 1995-96 home opener, a rat scurried across the team's locker room. Scott Mellanby reacted by "one-timing" the rat against the wall, killing it. That night, he scored two goals, which Vanbiesbrouck quipped was "a rat trick." Two nights later, as the story found its way into the world, a few fans threw rubber rats on the ice in celebration of a goal. The rubber rat count went from 16 for the third home game to over 2,000 during the playoffs.[15]

In the 1996 playoffs, as the fourth seed in the East, the Panthers faced the Boston Bruins in the first round and won in five games. Bill Lindsay's famous series-clinching goal is still a trademark image for the incredible run the third-year franchise went on. The Panthers went on to upset the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six games followed by the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in seven (with Tom Fitzgerald scoring what would end up being the game-winning goal) to reach the Stanley Cup Finals against the Colorado Avalanche, another team making its first Finals appearance.[15] The Avalanche, however, swept the Panthers in four-straight games.[23] For his team's surprising success, Bryan Murray was honored as NHL Executive of the Year.[24]

The Panthers would begin the next season with a 12-game unbeaten streak but faded in the second half of the season after trading second line center Stu Barnes. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Wayne Gretzky-led New York Rangers in five games. The team would plummet in the 1997-98 season. After a 7-12-4 start, the Panthers fired Doug MacLean, replacing him for the season with general manager Bryan Murray. The change did not aid matters, however, as Florida posted a franchise-worst 24-43-15 record, including a 15-game winless streak. This season would also mark the end of goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck's time in Florida; in the midst of that streak, he was shelled by the Chicago Blackhawks and never played another game for the Panthers. He would later sign with the Flyers that off-season as a free agent.

New arena and a new millennium (1998-2010)

The Panthers moved into the brand new National Car Rental Center (later Office Depot and BankAtlantic Center, now known as BB&T Center) in 1998. In 1998-99, they acquired Pavel Bure (the "Russian Rocket"), in a blockbuster trade with the Vancouver Canucks. They then reached the playoffs again in 1999-2000, losing in a first-round sweep to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils. The team slumped in 2000-01. Afterward, Huizenga sold the Panthers to an ownership group led by Alan Cohen.[25] The following season, 2001-02, the Panthers had their worst record ever. Bure struggled despite being reunited with his brother Valeri, and was traded to the Rangers at the 2002 trade deadline.

The Panthers then began eyeing defenceman Jay Bouwmeester, who was widely tipped to be picked first overall pick at the 2002 Draft. However, then-general manager Rick Dudley sent Florida's first pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who selected winger Rick Nash, and in return the Panthers received the right to trade first round selections with the Blue Jackets in the 2003 Draft,[26] a right which was not exercised when the Panthers received the first overall selection in 2003 as well. The Atlanta Thrashers, after picking goaltender Kari Lehtonen second overall, announced that the Panthers had given them two draft picks to guarantee that Bouwmeester would still be available for Florida's selection. Bouwmeester was selected third overall by the Panthers. Said then-head coach Mike Keenan, "We shouldn't have done that ... Jay would have been number-one if we'd kept that pick."[27]

In 2003, the Panthers hosted the NHL All-Star Weekend in which the Western Conference earned a 6-5 victory after the first overtime shootout in All-Star history. The West overcame a four-goal outburst by Thrashers winger Dany Heatley, who took home MVP honors in his first All-Star appearance.

On June 23, 2006, the Panthers were again involved in a blockbuster trade with Vancouver, sending Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a sixth-round draft pick (Sergei Shirokov) in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. This trade has been regarded by some as one of the worst trades in professional sports history - Luongo, who was at the prime of his career, was one of the League's top goaltenders, while Bertuzzi played just a handful of games for Florida before getting injured. He would later be traded to Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline for Shawn Matthias. Additionally, Auld ended up a poor replacement for Luongo, and was ultimately let go after one season with the team.

On June 22, 2007, the Panthers were involved in yet another draft day deal involving a goaltender. The team acquired Tomas Vokoun from the Nashville Predators in exchange for three draft picks - a first-round pick in 2008, a second-round pick in 2008 and a conditional second round pick that can be used in 2007 or 2008. The move would eventually pay off when Vokoun was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team. On July 28, 2007, Florida unveiled their new jerseys to over 11,000 fans at the BankAtlantic Center during the first intermission of the Panthers' 1996 Reunion game. Star forwards Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss were both in full gear to help showcase the sweater changes.

In June 2008, the Panthers traded their captain Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes for a second-round draft pick and defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton. The Panthers finished the 2008-09 season with a strong 41-30-11 record and 93 points, their second-highest finish in franchise history. Despite this, however, the Panthers missed the playoffs for an eighth-straight season, the then-longest streak in the NHL.

In November 2009, Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel became the new majority owners.[28] On November 23, 2009 the Panthers made their third jersey, ridding red from the alternate jersey, replacing it with powder blue. The Panthers missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive time in the 2009-10 season, making them the first team in NHL history to do so in one city.

After several more trades and over 300-man-games lost to injury throughout the season, the Panthers were able to finish first in the Southeast Division, marking the end of their record-setting decade-long post-season drought. The Panthers won the first-ever division title in franchise history with a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on April 7, 2012. However, the Panthers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils, losing at home in double overtime of Game 7.

In the lockout-shortened 2013 season, the Panthers had an abysmal season. Unable to regain their form from last season, the Panthers suffered key injuries and fell back down into the basement with the worst record in the League. In the 2013-14 season, the Panthers failed to gain any momentum and finished 29th out of 30 teams. The team then fired head coach Kevin Dineen and replaced him with Peter Horachek. At the trade deadline, the Panthers reacquired Roberto Luongo from Vancouver. The Panthers would relieve Horachek of his duties at the end of the season, replacing him with former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Gerard Gallant. The team also received the first overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, using it to select Barrie Colts defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

The Panthers' 2014-15 home opener on October 12, 2014, set a team record for the lowest attendance at a home opener, with only 11,419 spectators in attendance. The team's next game against the Ottawa Senators marked the team's lowest attendance ever, with only 7,311 in attendance.[29] Despite finishing with a record of 38-29-15, the Panthers missed the 2015 playoffs by seven points. On December 8, 2015, the Panthers announced that they signed a 13-year lease, and an $86 million funding agreement with Broward County and would have a new logo and uniforms after the 2015-16 season. Their original logo had remained almost unchanged since their first season in 1993.[30][31]

In the 2015-16 season, the team set a franchise record with a 12-game win streak. They also set a franchise record for most wins in a regular season with 47 wins and won their division for the second time in their existence. However, the Panthers lost to the New York Islanders in six games in the first round of the playoffs (this was the first playoff series win for the Islanders since the 1992-93 season). Head coach Gerard Gallant was nominated as a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, which recognizes the NHL Coach of the Year.

The 2016-17 season began with the promotion of general manager Dale Tallon to an executive position within the organization and assistant general manager Tom Rowe was promoted to general manager.[32] After an 11-10-1 start to the season, the Panthers fired head coach Gerard Gallant and general manager Tom Rowe took over as interim head coach.[33] At the end of the season, Rowe was relieved of his duties as both coach and general manager and was named special advisor to Tallon, who returned to positions of team president and general manager.[34] On June 12, 2017, the Panthers named Bob Boughner as their new head coach.[35]

The 2017-18 season began with a mediocre 19-22-6 record leading up to the 2018 NHL All-Star Game. The Panthers then went on an 25-8-2 run in their last 35 games, ending up one point short of a playoff berth. Their 44-30-8 record earned 96 regular season points, tying the league record of the 2014-15 Boston Bruins for the team with the most regular season points to miss the postseason.

Hockey Hall of Fame inductees

The Florida Panthers have an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Inductees affiliated with the Panthers include six former players and two builders of the sport. Builders that have an affiliation with the Panthers include former head coach Roger Nielson, and Bill Torrey, former general manager of the Panthers. Former play-by-play commentator, Dave Strader was also a recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame, for his contributions in hockey broadcasting.[38]